Ventilation systems within a building vary according to design, use, specifications and maintenance. For most systems, the primary function includes the restriction of air movement in and between various departments with specific requirements for ventilation and filtration to dilute and remove contamination, airborne microorganisms, viruses, hazardous chemicals and radioactive substances.
Various chemicals used in work processes are known to be hazardous to personnel in and around the work environment if they are not handled or ventilated properly. Vaporous chemicals, such as acetic acid, benzene, formaldehyde, nitrous oxide and xylene, can often affect the immune system and do carry health warnings.
Situations arise wherein volatile, toxic and particulate laden gasses are generated or leak into an interior room of a building or other confined spaces. The presence of gasses, such as vapors from hydrocarbon based products, as well as natural or liquefied petroleum gasses often occur within an enclosure or confined space, such as an interior room of a building. Volatile organic compounds such as automobile and aircraft paints, resurfacing materials, porcelain paints, reducers, glues, cleaning agents, grain dust and hydrocarbon fumes must be carefully evacuated from an interior space to avoid adverse effects, including unwanted combustion of such materials. In many instances, such materials cannot be safely or conveniently vented to the atmosphere and treatment of such gaseous material may be required to occur within the interior space.
Persons in industrialized nations spend more than 90% of their time indoors and industry-related occupations having to work in prolonged harsh conditions suffer from lung complications. The lung is the most common site of injury by airborne pollutants. Acute effects may also include non-respiratory signs and symptoms, which may also depend upon toxicological characteristics of the substances and host-related factors.
Accordingly, there has been an acute need to develop a more efficient system for handling various types of pollutants, toxic gasses and vapors, particularly with regard to interior facilities to help increase air quality. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.
The present system is designed to provide at least “Grade D” air to workers in a facility. The grades of air quality are determined by the Compressed Gas Association of Washington D.C. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and the National Fire Protection Association and also appear in OSHA regulations Code of Federal Regulations, (CFR) Section 1910.134.
The present system is detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.